Head of the Risk Communication and Social Mobilisation Committee for Ghana’s COVID-19 Response Team, Dr Dacosta Aboagye, says the impression being created that the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) do not have good negotiation skills as well as a concrete plan for the return of football are not true.
Football administrators and aficionados in recent weeks have cast doubts about the leadership capabilities of the Sports Ministry and the Football Association to draw up an action plan to convince and satisfy government quest to ease the restrictions on football activities.
Reacting to this assertion, DrAboagye said it was never true that leaders in the football enterprise lack the plan and the negotiation skills to convince government on the return of football.
“It is never true that leaders in the football enterprise do not have good negotiations skills nor a plan for the return of football. Indeed, the GFA through the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Authority (NSA) have brought up plans for the return of the game, and we the experts are currently guiding them to execute them.”
According to him, Ghana is using the phased approach to easing anti-COVID-19 restrictions, adding that contact sports is one of the high-risk sports that need careful consideration of protocols before players are allowed to go ahead with it.
“The COVID-19 government team is currently coaching and helping straighten the rough edges of the proposals brought forward to make sure we tighten the protocols for the return of the sport, so as not to bring any eventualities after the return.
“We are doing an all Ghana approach and in doing so we have to make sure the risk is very minimal so that when we start there would be no problem.”
He further described as untrue the perception that the Government COVID-19 Advisory Team does not value sports, hence the deafening silence on its return.
“The COVID-19 Advisory Team is made up of health experts who are championing health promotion and health promotion comes with physical activities, exercising for that matter, hence it will be very difficult to see anyone championing health promotion and not liking sports.”
He told Happy FM that one of the safety measures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 is physical exercising which includes football, among other sports.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
